What then? are we better than they? No, in no way: for we have before proved both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin;
All Commentaries on Romans 3:9 Go To Romans 3
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
271. After showing the Jews’ advantage over the Gentiles so far as God’s blessings are concerned [n. 248], the Apostle now rejects their vainglory, by which they preferred themselves to Gentiles converted to the faith. First, he states his point; secondly, be proves it, there [v. 9b; n. 274] at For we have charged. 272. First, therefore, he says: I have asked what advantage has the Jew. The first is that God’s words were delivered to them. What then shall we Jews say to converts to 141 the faith? Are we Jews any better off than Gentiles converted to the faith? For this was a matter discussed among them: "A dispute also rose among them, which of them was to be regarded as the greatest" (Lk 23:24). He answers this when he says, No, not at all. 273. But this seems to be at variance with an earlier statement (v. 2), which said that their advantage was much in every way. The gloss [of Lombard, col. 1356] explains that in the first statement the Apostle was thinking of the Jews in the time of the Law, but now he is speaking of the time of grace because, as is written in Col (3:11): "In Christ there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised," since these make no difference so far as the state of grace is concerned. But this explanation does not seem to be altogether in keeping with the Apostle’s intention, because later he will show that even while they were under the Law, they were under the power of sin, just as the Gentiles were, and even more so: "This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries round about her. And she has wickedly rebelled against my ordinances and become more wicked than these countries" (Ez 5:5). Hence, it seems that above he was showing the excellence of God’s blessings; consequently, he did not say that the Jew was more excellent, but that something greater had been conferred on the Jew. Here he is rejecting the notion that they are excellent persons, because in spite of receiving God’s blessings they did not use them properly. 274. Then when he says For we have charged (v. 9b) he establishes his points: first, that the Jews do not excel the Gentiles so far as the state of sin is concerned; 142 secondly, so far as the state of justice is concerned, there [v. 2; n. 299] at But now apart from the law. He establishes the first in two ways: first, from what has been stated above; secondly, from an authority, there [v. 10; n. 176] at As it is written. 275. First, therefore, he says: We have already charged, i.e., we have supported with reasons, that Jews and Greeks, i.e., Gentiles, are all under the power of sin: "From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in him" (Is 1:6). For he showed, first of all, that the Gentiles suppressed the truth they knew by their wickedness and unrighteousness; secondly, that the Jews, after receiving the Law, dishonored God by transgressing it. 276. Then when he says, As it is written, he establishes his point by the authority of the Psalmist: first, he quotes him; secondly, he explains, there [v. 19; n. 290] at Now we know. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he mentions sins of omission; secondly, sins of commission, there [v. 13; n. 282] at Their throat. He touches on the sins of omission in two ways: first, by removing the sources of good works; secondly, by removing the good works themselves, there [v. 12; n. 280] at All have turned aside. 143 277. Now there are three sources or principles that make a work good: one of these pertains to the righteousness of the work, namely, justice, which he says is lacking: no one is just: "The godly man has perished from the earth; and there is none upright among men" (Mic 7:2). No one is just can be interpreted in three ways: in one way as meaning that no one is just within himself and of himself, but of himself everyone is a sinner and it is owing to God that he is righteous: "The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty" (Ex 34:6). In another way it means that no one is just in every way but has some sin according to Pr (20:9): "Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean’?" and Ec (7:20): "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." In a third way it can be understood as referring to the wicked members of a populace, among which no one is just. For it is the custom of Scripture sometimes to speak of an entire populace in terms of its evil members and sometimes of its good members as in Jer (26:8 ff) where it is stated that when Jeremiah finished saying everything the Lord had commanded him to say to the entire populace, the priests and prophets and the entire people took hold of him and said that he would die the death. Then it is added: "Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and prophets: ‘This man does not deserve the sentence of death.’" (Jer 26:16). However, the first two meanings seem to be more in keeping with the Apostle’s intent; and the same must be said for the following. 144 278. The second element that makes a work good is intellectual discernment, whose absence is declared when he says, no one understands: "They have neither knowledge nor understanding" (Ps 82:5); "He would not understand" (Ps 36:3). 279. The third element is a right intention, whose absence is described when he says, no one seeks after God, namely, by directing his intention toward Him: "It is time to seek the Lord that he may come and rain salvation upon you" (Hos 10:12). 280. Then he removes the good works themselves. First, he cites offenses against the divine Law when he says, all have turned aside, namely, from regulation by divine Law: "They have all turned to their own way" (Is 56:11). Secondly, failure to pursue the end; hence he adds, together they have become unprofitable. For we call unprofitable whatever does not attain its end. Therefore, when men turn from God for Whom they were made, they are rendered unprofitable: "The brood of the ungodly will be of no use" (Wis 4:3). Thirdly, he excludes the good works themselves, when he adds, no one does good: "They are skilled in doing evil, but how to do good they know not" (Jer 4:22). 281. He adds, not even one. This can be taken exclusively, to mean: except the one who alone did good by redeeming the human race: "One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found" (Ec 7:28). Or it can be taken inclusively, to mean: there is not even one pure man doing good, i.e., what is perfect: "Search the squares [of Jerusalem] to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth" (Jer 5:1). 282. Then when he says Their throats (v. 13) he mentions the sins of commission: 145 first, sins of speech; secondly, sinful deeds, there [v. 15; n. 287] at their feet are swift. The sins of the heart can be gathered from these. 283. In regard to sins of speech he mentions four things. First, readiness and foulness, when he says: their throat is an open grave. For an open grave has two features. For it is ready to receive the dead. According to this, a man’s throat is said to be an open grave, when it is prepared to utter deadly remarks in the manner described by Jer (5:16): "Their quiver is like an open tomb." Secondly, it exudes a foul odor: "You are like white-washed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness" (Mt 23:27). Therefore, a person from whose mouth proceeds the foul odor of filthy remarks has a throat which is an open grave: "Fire and smoke and sulphur issued from their mouths" (Rev 19:17). 284. Secondly, in regard to sins of speech, he touches on deception when he says, they use their tongues to deceive, having one thing in their heart and another in their words: "Their tongues is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully" (Jer 9:8). 285. Thirdly, he mentions the havoc wrought by their words, when he says: The venom of asps is under their lips, because they utter words which kill their neighbor either spiritually or bodily: "Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps" (Dt 32:33). 286. Fourthly, he designates the abundance of these sins when he says: Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness, because they have a plentiful supply of curses, for 146 they curse in slandering others, contrary to what he says below (12:14): "Bless and do not curse them". And bitterness, inasmuch as they do not hesitate to say insulting words to their neighbor’s face, being provoked by bitterness, contrary to what is written in Eph (4:31): "Let all bitterness be put away from you." 287. Then when he says their feet are swift (v.15) he touches on sinful deeds, in regard to which he mentions three things. First, readiness to do wickedly. Hence he says, Their feet are swift, i.e., their feelings, to shed blood, i.e., to commit any serious sin, because among the sins committed against our neighbor, murder is the most grievous: "Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood" (Pr 1:16). 288. Secondly, he touches on the number of injuries they inflict on others when he adds: in their paths, i.e., in their deeds, are ruin; because they crush others by oppressing them: "It is in his mind to destroy" (Is 10:7); and misery, inasmuch as they deprive men of their goods and reduce them to wretchedness: "They send men away naked, taking away their clothes" (Jb 24:7). Yet these two, ruin and misery, can be taken as designating the punishment rather than the sin. Then the sense is: In their paths are ruin and misery, i.e., their deeds, which are signified as paths, lead them to misery. In this case, ruin would refer to the oppressive punishment they suffer for their sins: "They shall be broken as a potter’s vessel" (Is 30:14) and misery, to the punishment of damnation, because they will be refused eternal happiness: "They are miserable, with their hopes set on dead things" (Wis 14:10). 147 289. Thirdly, he shows their persistence in evil, from which men are returned in two ways. In one way by a desire to be at peace with others. Against this he says, the way of peace they have not known, i.e., have not accepted: "Among those who hate peace I was peaceful" (Ps 120:6). In another way by the fear of God; but they neither fear God nor regard man (Lk 18:2). Hence he adds, there is no fear of God before their eyes, i.e., in their plans: "The fear of the Lord casts out sin; for without fear a person cannot be justified" (Si 1:27). This could also refer in a particular way to the Jews who did not believe Christ, i.e., that they have not known the way of peace, name1y, Christ, of Whom it is written: "He is our peace" (Eph 2:14). 290. Then when he says Now we know (v. 19) he explains the text he quoted in three ways: first, by expounding its sense; secondly, its intention, there [v. l9b; n. 294] at that every mouth; thirdly, he gives the reason for his words, there [v. 20; n. 295] at For by the works of the law. 291. It should be noted that the Jews, against whom the Apostle was speaking, could, to excuse themselves, pervert the sense of the text he cited and claim that it referred to the Gentiles, not to the Jews. But the Apostle rejects this, saying: Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, i.e., to whom the Law is given and who profess 148 the Law: "When Moses commanded us a law" (Dt 33:4). But the Gentiles were not under the law; accordingly, the above words pertain to the Jews. 292. Two objections are raised here. The first is that the above words were not taken from the Law but from a psalm. The answer is that the word "Law" is sometimes taken for the entire Old Testament, not for the five books of Moses alone, as in Jn (15:25): "It is to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without cause,’" which was written in the Old Testament, not in the five books of Moses. This is the way, "Law" is taken here. Again, the Old Testament is sometimes divided into three parts, namely, the Law, the psalms and the prophets, as in Lk (24:44): "That everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Finally, the entire Old Testament is sometimes divided into two, namely, the Law and the prophets, as in Mt (22:40): "On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." In this sense the Psalter is included under the prophets. 293. The second objection is that in the Law, i.e., in the Old Testament, many things are said that pertain to other nations, as is clear in many passages of Isaiah and Jeremiah, where many statements are directed against Babylon and other nations. Therefore, not everything that the Law says speaks to those and about those who are under the Law. The answer is that whatever it says indeterminately seems to be directed to those to whom the Law has been given; but when the Scripture speaks of others it mentions them by name, as when it is written: "The burden of Babylon," "The burden of Tyre," etc. Furthermore, whatever was said against other nations in the Old Testament was 149 somehow directed to the Jews, inasmuch as ill fortune was foretold for their consolation or fear, just as any preacher should say what pertains to his audience, not what pertains to others: "Declare to my people their transgressions" (Is 58:1), as if to say: "not others’ transgressions." 294. Then when he says that every mouth (v. 19b) he states the intent of the text cited, for Sacred Scripture accuses all of injustice for two reasons. First, to suppress their boasting, by which they considered themselves just, as in Lk (18:12): "I fast twice a week." In regard to this he says, that every mouth may be stopped, which presumptuously ascribes justice to itself: "For the mouths of liars will be stopped" (Ps 63:11); "Talk no more so very proudly" (1 Sam 2:3). Secondly, so that recognizing their guilt, they might subject themselves to God as the sick to a physician. Hence he continues: and the whole world may be held accountable [made subject] to God, i.e., not only the Gentiles but the Jews also, after recognizing their guilt: "Shall not my soul be subject to God?" (Ps 62:1). 295. Then when he says For by the works of the law (v. 20) he assigns the reason for these words: first, he assigns the reason; secondly, he explains it, there [v. 20b; n. 298] at Since through the law. 296. First, therefore, he says: The reason no one is just is that no human being will be justified in his sight, i.e., according to His judgment, by works of the law; because, as is stated in Gal (2:2l): "If justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose," and in *** (3:5): "Not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy he saved us." 150 297. However, a work of the Law is of two kinds: one is peculiar to the Mosaic Law, as the observance of ceremonial precepts; the other is a work of the Law of nature, because it pertains to the natural law, as "Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal," etc. Now some take the Apostle’s words as referring to the first works, namely, that the ceremonials did not confer the grace through which men are made just. But this does not seem to be the Apostle’s intent, for he immediately adds: "since through the law comes knowledge of sin." But it is clear that sins are made known through prohibitions contained in the moral precepts. Consequently, the Apostle intends to say that by no works of the Law, even those commanded by the moral precepts, is man justified in the sense that justice would be caused in him by works, because, as he states below (11:6): "But if it is by grace it is no longer on the basis of works." 298. Then when he says, since through the law, he proves his statement, namely, that the works of the Law do not justify. For the Law is given that man might know what to do and what to avoid: "He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances" (Ps 147:20); "The commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light and the way of life" (Pr 6:23). But from the fact that man knows a sin he should avoid as being forbidden, it does not at once follow that he avoids it (because this pertains to the nature of righteousness), because concupiscence subverts the judgment of reason, when it bears on a particular moral action as performable. Consequently, the Law is not enough to make one just; another remedy is needed to suppress concupiscence.
